ANDREW LANG'S FAIRY BOOKS

Fenelon.

THE ENCHANTED RING

Once upon a time there lived a young man named Rosimond, who was as good and
handsome as his elder brother Bramintho was ugly and wicked. Their mother detested
her eldest son, and had only eyes for the youngest. This excited Bramintho's
jealousy, and he invented a horrible story in order to ruin his brother. He
told his father that Rosimond was in the habit of visiting a neighbour who was
an enemy of the family, and betraying to him all that went on in the house,
and was plotting with him to poison their father.

The father flew into a rage, and flogged his son till the blood came. Then
he threw him into prison and kept him for three days without food, and after
that he turned him out of the house, and threatened to kill him if he ever came
back. The mother was miserable, and did nothing but weep, but she dared not
say anything.

The youth left his home with tears in his eyes, not knowing where to go, and
wandered about for many hours till he came to a thick wood. Night overtook him
at the foot of a great rock, and he fell asleep on a bank of moss, lulled by
the music of a little brook.

It was dawn when he woke, and he saw before him a beautiful woman seated on
a grey horse, with trappings of gold, who looked as if she were preparing for
the hunt.

'Have you seen a stag and some deerhounds go by?' she asked.

'No, madam,' he replied.

Then she added, 'You look unhappy; is there anything the matter? Take this
ring, which will make you the happiest and most powerful of men, provided you
never make a bad use of it. If you turn the diamond inside, you will become
invisible. If you turn it outside, you will become visible again. If you place
it on your little finger, you will take the shape of the King's son, followed
by a splendid court. If you put it on your fourth finger, you will take your
own shape.'

Then the young man understood that it was a Fairy who was speaking to him,
and when she had finished she plunged into the woods. The youth was very impatient
to try the ring, and returned home immediately. He found that the Fairy had
spoken the truth, and that he could see and hear everything, while he himself
was unseen. It lay with him to revenge himself, if he chose, on his brother,
without the slightest danger to himself, and he told no one but his mother of
all the strange things that had befallen him. He afterwards put the enchanted
ring on his little finger, and appeared as the King's son, followed by a hundred
fine horses, and a guard of officers all richly dressed.

His father was much surprised to see the King's son in his quiet little house,
and he felt rather embarrassed, not knowing what was the proper way to behave
on such a grand occasion. Then Rosimond asked him how many sons he had.

'Two,' replied he.

'I wish to see them,' said Rosimond. 'Send for them at once. I desire to take
them both to Court, in order to make their fortunes.'

The father hesitated, then answered: 'Here is the eldest, whom I have the honour
to present to your Highness.'

'But where is the youngest? I wish to see him too,' persisted Rosimond.

'He is not here,' said the father. 'I had to punish him for a fault, and he
has run away.'

Then Rosimond replied, 'You should have shown him what was right, but not have
punished him. However, let the elder come with me, and as for you, follow these
two guards, who will escort you to a place that I will point out to them.'

Then the two guards led off the father, and the Fairy of whom you have heard
found him in the forest, and beat him with a golden birch rod, and cast him
into a cave that was very deep and dark, where he lay enchanted. 'Lie there,'
she said, 'till your son comes to take you out again.'

Meanwhile the son went to the King's palace, and arrived just when the real
prince was absent. He had sailed away to make war on a distant island, but the
winds had been contrary, and he had been shipwrecked on unknown shores, and
taken captive by a savage people. Rosimond made his appearance at Court in the
character of the Prince, whom everyone wept for as lost, and told them that
he had been rescued when at the point of death by some merchants. His return
was the signal for great public rejoicings, and the King was so overcome that
he became quite speechless, and did nothing but embrace his son. The Queen was
even more delighted, and fetes were ordered over the whole kingdom.

One day the false Prince said to his real brother, 'Bramintho, you know that
I brought you here from your native village in order to make your fortune; but
I have found out that you are a liar, and that by your deceit you have been
the cause of all the troubles of your brother Rosimond. He is in hiding here,
and I desire that you shall speak to him, and listen to his reproaches.'

Bramintho trembled at these words, and, flinging himself at the Prince's feet,
confessed his crime.

'That is not enough,' said Rosimond. 'It is to your brother that you must confess,
and I desire that you shall ask his forgiveness. He will be very generous if
he grants it, and it will be more than you deserve. He is in my ante-room, where
you shall see him at once. I myself will retire into another apartment, so as
to leave you alone with him.'

Bramintho entered, as he was told, into the anteroom. Then Rosimond changed
the ring, and passed into the room by another door.

Bramintho was filled with shame as soon as he saw his brother's face. He implored
his pardon, and promised to atone for all his faults. Rosimond embraced him
with tears, and at once forgave him, adding, 'I am in great favour with the
King. It rests with me to have your head cut off, or to condemn you to pass
the remainder of your life in prison; but I desire to be as good to you as you
have been wicked to me.' Bramintho, confused and ashamed, listened to his words
without daring to lift his eyes or to remind Rosimond that he was his brother.
After this, Rosimond gave out that he was going to make a secret voyage, to
marry a Princess who lived in a neighbouring kingdom; but in reality he only
went to see his mother, whom he told all that had happened at the Court, giving
her at the same time some money that she needed, for the King allowed him to
take exactly what he liked, though he was always careful not to abuse this permission.
Just then a furious war broke out between the King his master and the Sovereign
of the adjoining country, who was a bad man and one that never kept his word.
Rosimond went straight to the palace of the wicked King, and by means of his
ring was able to be present at all the councils, and learnt all their schemes,
so that he was able to forestall them and bring them to naught. He took the
command of the army which was brought against the wicked King, and defeated
him in a glorious battle, so that peace was at once concluded on conditions
that were just to everyone.

Henceforth the King's one idea was to marry the young man to a Princess who
was the heiress to a neighbouring kingdom, and, besides that, was as lovely
as the day. But one morning, while Rosimond was hunting in the forest where
for the first time he had seen the Fairy, his benefactress suddenly appeared
before him. 'Take heed,' she said to him in severe tones, 'that you do not marry
anybody who believes you to be a Prince. You must never deceive anyone. The
real Prince, whom the whole nation thinks you are, will have to succeed his
father, for that is just and right. Go and seek him in some distant island,
and I will send winds that will swell your sails and bring you to him. Hasten
to render this service to your master, although it is against your own ambition,
and prepare, like an honest man, to return to your natural state. If you do
not do this, you will become wicked and unhappy, and I will abandon you to all
your former troubles.'

Rosimond took these wise counsels to heart. He gave out that he had undertaken
a secret mission to a neighbouring state, and embarked on board a vessel, the
winds carrying him straight to the island where the Fairy had told him he would
find the real Prince. This unfortunate youth had been taken captive by a savage
people, who had kept him to guard their sheep. Rosimond, becoming invisible,
went to seek him amongst the pastures, where he kept his flock, and, covering
him with his mantle, he delivered him out of the hands of his cruel masters,
and bore him back to the ship. Other winds sent by the Fairy swelled the sails,
and together the two young men entered the King's presence.

Rosimond spoke first and said, 'You have believed me to be your son. I am not
he, but I have brought him back to you.' The King, filled with astonishment,
turned to his real son and asked, 'Was it not you, my son, who conquered my
enemies and won such a glorious peace? Or is it true that you have been shipwrecked
and taken captive, and that Rosimond has set you free?'

'Yes, my father,' replied the Prince. 'It is he who sought me out in my captivity
and set me free, and to him I owe the happiness of seeing you once more. It
was he, not I, who gained the victory.'

The King could hardly believe his ears; but Rosimond, turning the ring, appeared
before him in the likeness of the Prince, and the King gazed distractedly at
the two youths who seemed both to be his son. Then he offered Rosimond immense
rewards for his services, which were refused, and the only favour the young
man would accept was that one of his posts at Court should be conferred on his
brother Bramintho. For he feared for himself the changes of fortune, the envy
of mankind and his own weakness. His desire was to go back to his mother and
his native village, and to spend his time in cultivating the land.

One day, when he was wandering through the woods, he met the Fairy, who showed
him the cavern where his father was imprisoned, and told him what words he must
use in order to set him free. He repeated them joyfully, for he had always longed
to bring the old man back and to make his last days happy. Rosimond thus became
the benefactor of all his family, and had the pleasure of doing good to those
who had wished to do him evil. As for the Court, to whom he had rendered such
services, all he asked was the freedom to live far from its corruption; and,
to crown all, fearing that if he kept the ring he might be tempted to use it
in order to regain his lost place in the world, he made up his mind to restore
it to the Fairy. For many days he sought her up and down the woods and at last
he found her. 'I want to give you back,' he said, holding out the ring, 'a gift
as dangerous as it is powerful, and which I fear to use wrongfully. I shall
never feel safe till I have made it impossible for me to leave my solitude and
to satisfy my passions.'

While Rosimond was seeking to give back the ring to the Fairy, Bramintho, who
had failed to learn any lessons from experience, gave way to all his desires,
and tried to persuade the Prince, lately become King, to ill-treat Rosimond.
But the Fairy, who knew all about everything, said to Rosimond, when he was
imploring her to accept the ring:

'Your wicked brother is doing his best to poison the mind of the King towards
you, and to ruin you. He deserves to be punished, and he must die; and in order
that he may destroy himself, I shall give the ring to him.'

Rosimond wept at these words, and then asked:

'What do you mean by giving him the ring as a punishment? He will only use
it to persecute everyone, and to become master.'

'The same things,' answered the Fairy, 'are often a healing medicine to one
person and a deadly poison to another. Prosperity is the source of all evil
to a naturally wicked man. If you wish to punish a scoundrel, the first thing
to do is to give him power. You will see that with this rope he will soon hang
himself.'

Having said this, she disappeared, and went straight to the Palace, where she
showed herself to Bramintho under the disguise of an old woman covered with
rags. She at once addressed him in these words:

'I have taken this ring from the hands of your brother, to whom I had lent
it, and by its help he covered himself with glory. I now give it to you, and
be careful what you do with it.'

Bramintho replied with a laugh:

'I shall certainly not imitate my brother, who was foolish enough to bring
back the Prince instead of reigning in his place,' and he was as good as his
word. The only use he made of the ring was to find out family secrets and betray
them, to commit murders and every sort of wickedness, and to gain wealth for
himself unlawfully. All these crimes, which could be traced to nobody, filled
the people with astonishment. The King, seeing so many affairs, public and private,
exposed, was at first as puzzled as anyone, till Bramintho's wonderful prosperity
and amazing insolence made him suspect that the enchanted ring had become his
property. In order to find out the truth he bribed a stranger just arrived at
Court, one of a nation with whom the King was always at war, and arranged that
he was to steal in the night to Bramintho and to offer him untold honours and
rewards if he would betray the State secrets.

Bramintho promised everything, and accepted at once the first payment of his
crime, boasting that he had a ring which rendered him invisible, and that by
means of it he could penetrate into the most private places. But his triumph
was short. Next day he was seized by order of the King, and his ring was taken
from him. He was searched, and on him were found papers which proved his crimes;
and, though Rosimond himself came back to the Court to entreat his pardon, it
was refused. So Bramintho was put to death, and the ring had been even more
fatal to him than it had been useful in the hands of his brother.

To console Rosimond for the fate of Bramintho, the King gave him back the enchanted
ring, as a pearl without price. The unhappy Rosimond did not look upon it in
the same light, and the first thing he did on his return home was to seek the
Fairy in the woods.

'Here,' he said, 'is your ring. My brother's experience has made me understand
many things that I did not know before. Keep it, it has only led to his destruction.
Ah! without it he would be alive now, and my father and mother would not in
their old age be bowed to the earth with shame and grief! Perhaps he might have
been wise and happy if he had never had the chance of gratifying his wishes!
Oh! how dangerous it is to have more power than the rest of the world! Take
back your ring, and as ill fortune seems to follow all on whom you bestow it,
I will implore you, as a favour to myself, that you will never give it to anyone
who is dear to me.'